The Latin Poems of Christian Wedsted

On June 13, 1753 the Irene set sail from London to New York. One of her passengers was Christian Wedsted, a Moravian missionary headed to his post in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. While many travelers would chronicle their transatlantic journeys, Wedsted chose to recount his in 200 lines of Latin poetry, imitating the preferred form of the ancient Roman poet Ovid.

This poem is one of about 45 Latin poems that Wedsted composed in Germany, England, and Pennsylvania, all of which are presented here together for the first time alongside translations into English. A critical introduction and commentary provide historical, literary, and religious context for Wedsted's poetry, across an oeuvre containing birthday poems, impassioned religious verses, and personal anecdotes about life in colonial Pennsylvania. At around 1200 lines, the poems make up one of the largest extant collections of 18th-century Latin poetry from the Americas.

Moravian piety is central to Wedsted's identity, and he exchanges poems with important Moravian personalities, weaving together classical material and Christian material to create an original and unique project in colonial America. Many of the poems are experiments in genre that put ancient models and meters to work in new contexts. Half of the poems were written after his arrival in America, and as such they offer a rare window into life on the colonial frontier.